Legal
J&J Talc Settlement Holdouts Accuse Company of Buying Votes
- Lawyers for claimant holdouts want settlement votes thrown out
- J&J held vote before talc liability unit filed bankruptcy
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People who voted to settle their baby power-related health claims against Johnson & Johnson should have their ballots thrown out because the consumer products giant rigged the tally, according to lawyers for holdout claimants.
The company organized a vote of claimants as part of a strategy to win bankruptcy court approval of a deal to pay out more than $8 billion to end cancer lawsuits filed by tens of thousands of women, the lawyers alleged in a court filing. Under special Chapter 11 rules, a J&J unit needed to win the vote by 75% to have a chance at convincing a judge to approve the settlement.